The Gathering: Reading the Harry Potter Books
by open-says-a-me
Summary: This story takes place during fifth year, at the start of the Easter holidays, right after Snape's Worst Memory, but before Harry talks to Sirius and Remus. I like criticism! Review! GO TO MY PROFILE FOR THE FULL WORKS :)
1. Chapter 1

Prologue: The Gathering

It was the first day of the Easter Holidays during Harry Potter's fifth year, and he couldn't have been happier. Between the evil DADA teacher – Umbridge or 'Toad Face' as she was known – visions from inside Voldemort's mind, and distrust amongst his fellow students this year had definitely not been one of Harry's favorites, and he still had a month or so to go. Granted, his past four years hadn't been much better, but at least he had been somewhat happy.

Now, as he was sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room alone (the rest of the school was at the feast before leaving for two weeks) he had time to think about all that was going on around him lately. Not that any of it made any sense, and no one was giving him answers. Dumbledore was still refusing to look at him for longer than a brief glance, and the main problem was that though he wanted to be angry at the old man for keeping secrets from him, he just couldn't find the anger in him. Not like that night before they left for Grimauld Place.

Harry angrily flopped himself against the back of the sofa. If only he had listened to the others! Maybe if he had studied Occulmency harder, or not upset Umbridge as much, maybe none of this would be happening. The problem was, there was no one to blame but himself. As much as he may have wanted to blame Dumbledore, he couldn't find it in himself. True, the old wizard had lied and ignored Harry, but Harry was sure that Dumbledore had a reason. A reason he refused to tell Harry.

"Harry?" A voice said from behind him and he whipped around to find Colin Creevy standing behind the couch.  
"Oh, hello Colin," Harry answered unenthusiastically. "Why aren't you at the feast?"  
"It's over, and Professor McGonagall told me to give you this," the fourth year answered, holding out a piece of parchment.  
"She did?" Harry said, sitting upright and taking the parchment. "Thanks Colin. You'd better go finish packing, have a good Holiday." Harry stood up and walked away and out of the Common Room, where he quickly opened the note.  
_Harry-_ Dumbledore's loopy writing greeted him._ Once you get this, go to the seventh floor and ask for a room where you can read in peace. –AD_

_What? A room where I can read in peace?_ Harry wondered but set off anyway. After months of ignorance, suddenly Dumbledore wants to talk to him? And how had he managed to get back into the school without Umbridge catching him? As he walked, he quickly remembered what was on the seventh floor and slapped a hand to his forehead. Of course! The room of requirement! Picking up his pace, he arrived in front of the concealed room in five minutes.

I need a place where I can read in peace, a place where I can read in peace. Harry chanted over and over in his head. Finally a large wooden door appeared and Harry stepped inside eagerly, but cautiously.

The room was huge, easily as large as it had been when the D.A had been using it, perhaps even bigger. There were several couches, a fireplace, two long tables, and two doors on either side of the room, but Harry was only vaguely aware of this. What he was aware of were the people standing – or sitting – in the room.

There was his two best friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, Ron's younger sister Ginny, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Ron's older brothers Fred and George Weasley, as well as Professors McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick and even Snape. There was also a former professor, and Harry gave Remus Lupin a small smile, all the while wondering what he was doing there. Finally, there were three people from the Ministry itself including the Minister Cornelius Fudge and his assistant, Percy Weasley another one of Ron's older brothers, and Amelia Bones, of course, the hated Umbridge was there as well.

"Ah! There you are Harry!" Dumbledore strode forward, his blue eyes twinkling. "I was beginning to wonder if Mr. Creevy delivered the message I gave to Professor McGonagall."

"Err…yeah he did, but what is all this?" Harry asked, referring to everything in general. Dumbledore's cheery mood startled him. Instead of ignoring Harry, he was openly talking to and looking at him.

"This Mr. Potter," Umbridge began in her annoying voice, "is a way to reveal all of your lies to the ones you have deluded."  
"Excellent, so we get to find out if it was Harry that planted that trip wire," Fred piped up, ignoring the glares that those from the ministry sent his way.  
"Yesterday when I returned to my office –" Umbridge began.  
"To clean out her things," Ron muttered.  
"One can only hope," Harry muttered back.  
"I found five books sitting on my desk. Each one details the events of Mr. Potter's years at Hogwarts, and I know for a fact that they are true." She continued.  
"As I am sure we all are curious about what these books say, perhaps we should get started on reading them?" Remus offered, gesturing to the tables and chairs. People nodded and quickly took whatever seat was available.

In the end, most of the Professors sat at the table, along with the members of the Ministry. Fred and George sat on one couch, Luna and Neville sat together, Ginny took a chair, Remus and Hermione were sitting on one of the remaining couches, while Harry and Ron took two chairs much like the ones in the Gryffindor Common Room.

Once everyone had settled, Dumbledore lifted his wand and a book came zooming into his hands. "Well let's begin shall we?" He asked the group in general with a cheerful smile. "The first book is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."

Harry groaned and saw Ron and Hermione wearing similar expressions. Dumbledore cleared his throat and began to read.

**REVIEW! Er...I mean.. Hello, my name (is 'none of your concern') and I am writing a story about hogwarts reading Harry potter and reactions. So yeah. I dont care if you're mean in your reviews. I like those kinds the most. **

**Watch out for Nargles!**

**Luna**


	2. Chapter 2

"CHAPTER ONE: THE BOY WHO LIVED." Dumbledore read.

**"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much."**

"Your welcome very much," Fred and George said at the same time.

**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

"But it is the strange and mysterious things that make life interesting," Luna said in her dreamy voice.

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.**

"Muggle thing." Hermione said at the many curious looks.

**He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

"So we have a walrus, a horse, and a whale, right Harry?" Fred asked and Harry nodded with a smirk.

"Good to know that Petunia hasn't changed," Snape muttered but no one heard him except for Remus due to his heightened senses.

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"There is nothing wrong with the Potters!" Several people exclaimed, particularly Harry and Remus.

**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband**

Remus growled, letting his wolfish side show.

**were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be.**

"Thank goodness for that," Harry said.

**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"I think he should mix with a child like Harry!" Ginny exclaimed.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts,**

"Funny, I thought it already started." George remarked.

**there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work,**

"He has a most boring tie?" Hermione asked.

"Actually several," Harry answered.

**and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**  
**None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.**

"How could you not notice an owl in broad daylight?" Professor Sprout wondered aloud.

**At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. "Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house.**

"He encouraged that kind of behavior?!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed.

**He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.**  
**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar - a cat reading a map. For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen - then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight.**

Snape looked over at McGonagall. "What were you doing there of all places?"

"I'm sure if you stopped interrupting Severus, we would find out." She replied shortly.

**What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back.**

"I know that stare," Remus and the twins echoed at the same time. Then they looked at one another in surprise.

**As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive - no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs.**

"Oh I think this cat can," Remus said. "She can read essays too."

**Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**  
**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks. Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes - the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion.**

"Not really, robes have been around for quite a while," Ron said, rolling his eyes.

**He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdoes standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him!**

"The nerve indeed!" Fred scoffed.

**But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt - these people were obviously collecting for something**

"Like what?" Neville wondered.

...** yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.**  
**Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open- mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.**

"He sounds extremely pleasant Harry," Ginny commented sarcastically.

**He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road**

"What?" Harry asked in surprise. "He did what?"

**to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

"Ah, that makes sense."

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch was whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**  
**"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard yes, their son, Harry"**

"And so the rumors begin." Harry commented dryly.

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead.**

"Shame that he didn't." George said and Fred snickered.

**Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**  
**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking... no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name.**

"In the Muggle world it isn't," Hermione exclaimed. "But in the wizarding world it is."

**He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.**

"Who would name their child Harvey Potter?" Neville asked in confusion.

**There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her - if he'd had a sister like that...**

"There was nothing wrong with Lily!" All of the teachers who had taught the bright witch exclaimed in frustration.

**but all the same, those people in cloaks...**  
**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**  
**"Sorry," he grunted,**

"Did he just apologize?" Harry questioned, looking scandalized.

**as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!" And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

By this point many of the people in the room had long since realized what day it was and many of the witches – minus Umbridge of course – had tears in their eyes.

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.**

"How can anyone not approve of imagination?" Flitwick wondered in his squeaky voice.

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw - and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**  
**"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look. Was this normal cat behavior?**

"No," Remus said shaking his head. "But it is normal Professor McGonagall behavior." His comment earned him an aforementioned stern look.

**Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**  
**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!").**

"Oh bravo!" The twins clapped sarcastically.

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news: "And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin.**

"Ted Tonks," Professor Sprout said fondly, thinking about her old student.

"Tonks?" Harry asked.

"Yes, that Tonks, Harry," Remus said with a nod.

**"Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

"I think Ted's enjoying himself a bit too much," Professor Sprout said, shaking her head but she was smiling.

**"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight." Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain. Owls flying by daylight. Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place. And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters...**  
**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Err - Petunia, dear - you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you." As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**  
**Again there were several growls and muttered comments.**  
**"No," she said sharply. "Why?"**  
**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls... shooting stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..."**  
**"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.**  
**"Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... you know... her crowd."**

"And what exactly does that mean 'her crowd'?" Ron demanded.

"That would be wizards and anything to do with magic really," Harry said in an unconcerned tone.

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son - he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

"Well at least he knows something!" Hermione snapped.

**"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**  
**"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it."**

"He didn't even know your name?" Hermione exclaimed angrily, causing Remus to wince since he was right next to her.

"Well not at that point. But I can assure you he knew it well enough in a few years," Harry answered in the same tone.

**"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**  
**"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree." He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.**

"What were you waiting for Professor?" Fred asked.

"Wait and see Mr. Weasley."

**Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did... if it got out that they were related to a pair of - well, he didn't think he could bear it. The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind...**

"Oh yes, Lily knew how Petunia felt." Snape snarled under his breath.

**He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on - he yawned and turned over - it couldn't affect them...**

"Jinxed it," Harry muttered.

**How very wrong he was.**  
***]  
[* Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

"Never would have been able to do that," the twins shook their heads. Sitting still just wasn't possible for them.

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed. Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.**

"Dumbledore!" The twins exclaimed excitedly. Dumbledore chuckled.

**This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

"Ha! We were right!" Fred said and Ginny rolled her eyes.

"No one disagreed with you," she told him.

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome.**

"Oh, I was very much aware I merely chose to ignore the fact," Dumbledore said, chuckling slightly before resuming reading.

**He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known." He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter.**

"I'll explain later," Hermione said quickly as Ron opened his mouth.

**He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness.**  
**Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer,**

"Is that its real name sir?" Hermione asked.

"No, it is called the Deluminator Miss Granger."

**until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**  
**"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall." He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

"McGonagall ruffled? She must have had a bad day," Ron said in an undertone.

"What was that Weasley?" McGonagall questioned sharply.

"Oh! Nothing Professor," Ron said quickly while the twins sniggered.

**"How did you know it was me?" she asked.**  
**"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**  
**"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

"All day?" Hermione wondered aloud.

**"All day?**

"Hermione you think like Dumbledore!" George exclaimed.

"You know she'll take that as a compliment," Harry told him and nodded to Hermione who was beaming.

**When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here." Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**  
**"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently.**

"Not everyone," Remus muttered quietly. Oh he had been in a pub sure, but it wasnt for celebrating.

**"You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no - even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls... shooting stars... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

"Probably was. He always was a bit over eager," Flitwick chimed.

**"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

Everyone old enough to remember what the wizarding world was like before that fateful Halloween shivered at the thought of those terrible eleven years.

**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors." She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all.**

"I can see it now…" George said in a tone reminiscent of Trelawny.

**I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"**  
**"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

"A what?" Ron asked curiously.

**"A what?"**

"Aww Ron! Why'd you have to think like McGonagall?" Fred complained loudly.

**"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**  
**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't**  
**think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone -"**  
***]  
[*"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name. All this 'You- Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort."**

Most of those gathered flinched with the exception of Dumbledore, Remus, and of course, Harry. Hermione, who had gotten somewhat used to the name, only winced slightly.

**Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**  
**"I know you haven 't, said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."**  
**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

"Because you're too noble to use them sir," Harry said, letting the Headmaster know that he was no longer angry at him with a smile. Of course, he might not have completely forgiven the Headmaster, not until he got some answers anyway. Dumbledore returned the smile before turning back to the book.

**"Only because you're too - well - noble to use them."**  
***]  
[*"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

Ron, Ginny, Neville, Fred, and George all exchanged similar, slightly horrified, expressions.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?" It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.**  
**"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are - are - that they're - dead. "**

By now, McGonagall and Sprout were both wiping tears out of their eyes and Remus dropped his head into his hands. Ginny reached over to where Harry was sitting with his eyes closed and squeezed his hand reassuringly.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**  
**"Lily and James... I can't believe it... I didn't want to believe it... Oh, Albus..."**

Remus chuckled slightly. "Never knew you cared so much for James Professor."

McGonagall sniffed. "Well, he did bring a certain spark to class."

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder.**  
**"I know... I know..." he said heavily.**  
**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not**  
**all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But - he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone." Dumbledore nodded glumly.**  
**"It's - it's true." faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done... all the people he's killed... he couldn't kill a little boy. It's just astounding... of all the things to stop him... but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

"Believe me Professor, I've wondered the same thing," Harry said glumly.

**"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

Harry shot Dumbledore a look which the Headmaster ignored. Remus caught this interaction and raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch.**  
**It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge.**

"I want one!" Fred and George exclaimed.

**It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**  
**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"**  
**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

Harry shook his head. "Not necessarily true," he muttered, looking over at all the red heads and thinking about his godfather.

**"You don't mean - you can't mean the people who live here!" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore - you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"**

"Thanks Professor." Harry said, then mumbled under his breath, "Glad to know someone had sense that day."

**"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

"A letter!? Did you honestly believe that a letter could explain everything?" Both Hermione and Ginny were fuming and Remus and Harry both set on calming them down.

**"A letter." repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter. These people will never understand him! He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future**

"No." Harry said quickly, looking at Fred and George.

"Aww come on Harry just think –,"

" – for one whole day you wont be the only scrawny git in the world!"

"No." Harry repeated sharply and Snape raised an eyebrow ever so slightly. Surely Potter was putting on a show?

**- there will be books written about Harry**

"How many am I in again Hermione?" Harry teased his friend who stuck her tongue out at him.

**- every child in our world will know his name!"**  
**"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

"Of course, finding out from a giant who just broke down a door of an isolated cabin wasn't exactly ideal either," Harry mumbled again.

"Isolated cabin?" Remus asked in confusion.

"Something tells me you'll find out soon enough." Harry said, waving at the book.

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes - yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**  
**"Hagrid's bringing him."**  
**"You think it - wise - to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

"I trust Hagrid with my life." Harry said, looking at Ron and Hermione.

"No offense mate, while I do trust Hagrid, after Aragog, I wouldn't exactly be following him at a drop of a pin."

"And don't make me bring up Gwarp." Hermione added.

**"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**  
**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that?" A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky - and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

"Ah, Sirius' bike," Remus mused. "I wondered what had happened to that."

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild - long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**  
**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**  
**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."**  
**"No problems, were there?"**  
**"No, sir - house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

"Aww…" Hermione and Ginny cooed while the boys laughed and Harry blushed.

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

Again, Hermione and Ginny cooed.

**"Is that where -." whispered Professor McGonagall.**  
**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."**  
**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**  
**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground.**

"Do you really? Fred quickly interjected. When Dumbledore nodded he and George exchanged glances.

"Wicked." They chorused.

**Well - give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with." Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.**  
**"Could I - could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

"Padfoot would resent that," Remus mused.

**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"**  
**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead - an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles -"**

"Tell me about it," Harry said and Snape frowned. What? Hadn't those Muggles worshipped Potter enough for his liking?

**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door.**  
**He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

Harry shuddered slightly. You know something is bad when Dumbledore's eyes aren't twinkling.

"**Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**  
**"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back.**

Remus shook his head. "I don't think he'll be getting back for a while."

**G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir." Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**  
**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

"Very polite Professor," George said with a smirk. McGonagall merely glared at him.

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**  
**"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.**

"You left him on the doorstep?!" Hermione yelled at the Headmaster and Harry felt a wave of sympathy for Remus, who had clapped his hands over his ears.

"What were you thinking?!" Ginny evidently agreed with Hermione.

"Miss Granger, Miss Weasley, I assure you, Harry was perfectly fine. I had placed several wards and shields over him." Dumbledore soothed the two girls. Seeming somewhat satisfied, they sat down and Remus turned to Hermione.

"Are you going to be doing that a lot?" He asked her seriously and she merely blushed in response.

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley... He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!".**

"That is the end of the first chapter," Dumbledore said. "Who would like to read next?"

"I will." Professor McGonagall said, taking the book from Dumbledore. She flipped to the  
appropriate page and cleared her throat.

**So, tell me whatcha think? Review and stuff!**


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own anything in bold. That all belongs to J.K Rowling

"**Chapter Two: The Vanishing Glass**" McGonagall began to read.

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets –**

Several people started to laugh and McGonagall waited until all the snickers had died down before continuing.

**but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing acomputer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.**

"And why is that?" Remus demanded in a cool tone that scared Harry more than if he had yelled.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.**

Snape winced, having heard Petunia's shrill voice all to often in his childhood and he knew that it wasn't a pleasant sound to begin with, let alone early in the morning.

**"Up! Get up! Now!"**  
**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.**  
**"Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then**  
**the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

"Have to tell you Harry –" Fred began

" – the reason for that is because –" George continued

"You have" They said in unison.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Thanks guys, but I already know that now."

**His aunt was back outside the door.**  
**"Are you up yet?" she demanded.**  
**"Nearly," said Harry.**  
**"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

"How often did they make you cook?" Hermione asked in a tone that matched Remus'.

"Not often. Only a few times realy," Harry answered quickly and Snape frowned. He had the feeling that Potter was lying, and not in a good way.

**Harry groaned.**  
**"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.**  
**"Nothing, nothing..."**  
**Dudley's birthday - how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders,**

Ron shivered. "Did you have to mention the spiders?" He asked.

Fred and George grinned, but quickly winced when Ginny smacked the both of them on the back of the head. "Ow! Ginny!"

**because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them,**

"What does that have to do with anything?" Hermione wondered.

**and that was where he slept.**

"WHAT?!" Everyone exclaimed. Before Harry could blink, both Remus and McGonagall were in front of Dumbledore.

"A cupboard? Are you telling me that he slept in a cupboard for ten years and you didn't know about it?" Remus snarled. Like before, he wasn't yelling, but his tone and glare were deadly.

Unlike Remus, McGonagall had no reservations about yelling. "ALBUS DUMBLEDORE! YOU SAID THAT HE WOULD BE WELL LOOKED AFTER BY THOSE MUGGLES!" She yelled.

Everyone else' protests had died down as they watched the two Professor's yell at the Headmaster.

"Harry, why didn't you say anything?" Hermione asked him, taking advantage of the break.

"It never really came up. Besides, it wasn't for much longer." Harry answered. By that time, Dumbledore had said something that seemed to have placated Remus and McGonagall enough for them to sit down, but both were still shooting glares at the headmaster every so often.

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise - unless of course it involved punching somebody.**

"He'd had better not mean you," Ginny said.

**Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry,**

Ginny started muttering what sounded like various curses under her breath.

**but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.**  
**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.**

Remus shook his head. "No that's just the way your father was. He didn't really fill out until about our sixth year. I think that helped his chances with Lily."

"So they were both scrawny gits?" Fred asked and Remus chuckled but nodded.

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes.**

"Just like James, except for the eyes, Lily's eyes," Remus sighed, thinking back on his brother and sister.

**He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape**

"Why?" Ron asked him.

**because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.**

"Ah."

**The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning.**

"You liked it?" Neville asked curiously. As long as he had known Harry, he seemed to hate the scar.

"Yeah, but that was before I knew what it represented. At the time, I liked it because it made me different."

**He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.**  
**"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions."**

"Car crash?" Remus asked. His hands were clenched and it appeared that he was speaking through gritted teeth. "They didn't even tell you how your parents died?"

**Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.**

"But how were you supposed to learn?" Luna asked.

"I think the point was so that I wouldn't," Harry mused.

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.**  
**"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**  
**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and**  
**shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way -all over the place.**

"Curse of the Potter's that is," Remus said nodding at Harry's unruly black hair. He noticed that Ginny too was staring at Harry. "That and marrying red heads," he added under his breath and Hermione smirked.

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his**  
**mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel - Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

"We'll corrupt you yet!" Fred said in between fits of laughter.

"Yeah, by the time we're done with you, you might be worthy of the Mauraders!" George added.

Remus leaned over to Harry. "You never told them?" He asked in a whisper.

Harry shook his head. "To be honest, it slipped my mind."

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.**  
**"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

"Spoiled brat," Professor Sprout muttered to McGonagall who nodded in agreement.

**"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."**  
**"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face.**  
**Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

"Smart thinking," Ron said seriously while the rest of the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione all rolled their eyes. Ron and his stomach.

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?''**  
**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty ... thirty..."**

"He can't even do simple math!" Flitwick exclaimed.

**"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**  
**"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**  
**Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

"Again, he is encouraging that?" Sprout asked out loud.

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.**  
**"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**

"Did they always talk about you like that?" Ron asked.

Harry thought about it. "Majority of the time. Though there was a few times when they actually said my name."

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.**

"I didn't know why I was looking at pictures of the same cats every single time."

**"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.**

"Harry," Hermione sighed in exasperation.

"Can you blame me?" Harry asked defensively and Hermione reluctantly shook her head.

**"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**  
**"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."**

"The feeling's mutual," Harry said.

"Wasn't she the one –" Ron began but Harry cut him off.

"We'll get to that."

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there - or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**  
**"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"**  
**"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**  
**"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).**

"Nice try Harry," Ginny told him.

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.**

"So her normal expression then," Snape said, a little bit louder than he thought. He couldn't believe that Potter hadn't had the spoiled life he had imagined… In fact, Potter's childhood almost reminded him of his own, and that was not a good thing.

**"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**  
**"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**  
**"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "...and leave him in the car..."**

"That's illegal!" Hermione said.

"He's not a dog!" Neville said at the same time.

**"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone..."**  
**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying - it had been years since he'd really cried - but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**  
**"Dinky Duddydums,**

Everyone burst into laughter after that one. And just when the laughter would stop, one of the children would look at another and it would begin again. Finally, the calmed down enough for McGonagall to continue.

**don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

"Did they fit?" Ron asked.

"It was only around his neck, and it was pretty close," Harry informed him.

**"I... don't... want... him... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp- spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**  
**Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**  
**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.**

"Really?" Hermione asked sadly, and she sighed when Harry nodded.

**His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**  
**"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy - any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**

Remus growled. "He didn't."

"Relax Remus, most of the things he said were empty threats." Harry tried to reassure his 'uncle' but Remus caught the almost in Harry's statement.

**"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly…"**  
**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.**  
**The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.**  
**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

"Cutting the hair never works. It's like a hedge," Remus said in a mock wise tone.

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls)**

Nearly all the witches winced at the description of the sweater.

**- The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

"Good." Ginny said and everyone nodded their agreement.

**On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid- jump.**

"Harry…you apparated," Hermione said in a faint voice.

"No, I think I just flew," Harry mused.

_Petunia should have known that was accidental magic, after all, Lily did nearly the same thing,_ Snape thought.

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.**  
**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects.**

"Wow Harry, he sure loves to talk about you!" George beamed.

**This morning, it was motorcycles.**  
**"... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.**  
**"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It**  
**was flying."**

There was a collective groan.

"Harry, why cant you keep you mouth shut?" Hermione moaned.

"Because otherwise he wouldn't be Harry?" Ron guessed than shrank back at the look his best friend sent him.

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"**

"Well you see Vernon, perhaps in your crazed mind they don't –" Fred said.

" – but here in the real world," George continued.

"They do!" They finished together.

**Dudley and Piers sniggered.**  
**"I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."**  
**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

"No, you do that on your own," Ron said. Hermione nodded and Remus looked at her.

"Do I want to know?" He asked.

She shook her head. "But you'll find out."

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

Fred and George laughed at that and had a spark in their eyes that made Harry think there would be a new prank coming soon.

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him. They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbockers**

"His what?" Neville asked.

"Muggle treat," Hermione answered.

**glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first. Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**  
**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can - but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**  
**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the**  
**glistening brown coils.**  
**"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**  
**"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**  
**"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**  
**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He**  
**wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself – no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**

"That is a very optimistic way of looking at it Harry," Luna said and most people looked around, having forgotten about her.

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.**  
**It winked.**

"You do know that snakes don't have eyelids?" Hermione asked.

"Actually, they have a film protecting their eyes which does occasionally move," Remus corrected causing people to look at him. "What?" He asked and they all shook their heads.

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

"Harry, you are not supposed to wink back at a snake," Ginny groaned.

**The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:**  
**"I get that all the time."**  
**"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."**

"And now you're talking to it. Didn't you find that weird at all?" Ginny continued.

Harry shrugged. "I was ten, lonely, and used to weird stuff happening."

**The snake nodded vigorously.**  
**"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.**  
**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.**  
**Boa Constrictor, Brazil.**  
**"Was it nice there?"**  
**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?"**

"You were talking to a snake about Brazil?" Remus asked faintly. "And you never thought to mention this to anyone?"

"Well I didn't think it was that weird until people started accusing me of being Slytherin's heir," Harry snapped. "Second year." He said before Remus could ask.

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of**  
**them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOUWON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"**  
**Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.**

Fred and George snickered.

**"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**  
**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.**  
**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come... Thanksss, amigo."**  
**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**  
**"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**  
**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**

Again there was a collective groan from everyone, minus the Ministry officials who were mostly upset that so far this book had done nothing but prove Potter actually had something to admire, not that they would admit that.

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**  
**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.**

"Smart." McGonagall said and she gave Harry a rare smile, although it was a rather tight one.

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.**

"That's more than you should have to remember," Remus said sadly and Harry shifted uncomfortably, thinking about what they would say when they reached third year and heard what he did whenever a Dementor was near.

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**  
**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened;**

"Believe me Harry, I tried," Remus said sadly. "If it wasn't for some rather ridiculous laws –" He glared at the Ministry representatives, particularly Umbridge, "I would have taken you away from there."

"Thanks Remus," Harry said, giving the man a grateful smile.

**the Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley.**

"Diggle," McGonagall sighed.

**After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

"Of course, they didn't want to be caught." Ron said.

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

"That's the end of the chapter." McGonagall said, closing the book after marking the page. "Who would like to continue?"

"I will!" Flitwick said in his high voice. He levitated the book down the table to where he was sitting before settling down in his chair.

**Thanks for reviewing!**

** Keepers-Grim- Yes, I will do the whole book. And try updating everyday because my mom took away my computer, so I sneak :) Like how i'm doing right now. :))**


	4. Chapter 4

GO TO MY PROFILE PAGE! There, you will see a link towards the complete book (1 and 2 and some of 3).

Have a nice summer!

Luna


End file.
